Although offering nothing really new in the ages-old miscommunication
and lack of mutual understanding between mothers and daughters, as well
as being a remake of an earlier movie, “Freaky Friday” delivers an
enjoyable take on the issue and on the role-reversal plot device that
has become something of a standard, in one form or another, of teen
movies. In 2003, Disney Studios came in second place for the most box
office proceeds, and “Freaky Friday” got the nod for being a major
contributor to that ranking.

Dr. Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis), widow and mother of two, has found
a man she believes she can share the rest of her life with.
Unfortunately, she’s stressed out by the wedding plans and her job as a
psychiatric counselor. Anna (Lindsay Lohan), her teenage daughter,
struggles daily with school where deals with a rival, an English
teacher with an obvious grudge, trying to keep her rock band together,
and getting to meet one of the hottest guys in school. Both women
arrive at major turning points in their lives and, through a bit of
magic, end up having to face those turning points in each other’s
bodies.

Chapter 1 introduces the viewer to the two Coleman women as they crash
through their harried lives. The music score for Tess and Anna
deliberately separates them for the audience, offering the same song
done with different speeds to elaborate the differences between the
two, while at the same time showing how busy they both are. After
getting into a confrontation while getting up and around, Tess and Anna
argue over their different wants and needs. Anna gets off to a terrible
day when her rival, Stacy, comes up and gives her mom the saccharine
sweet “congratulations on your big day” speech, then finds out she’s
wearing the same “unique” shirt as another girl that day, and gets
noticed by a guy she’s crushing on during a totally geeky moment.

Tess’s day turns out just as horrible while she tries to juggle work
and arranging her wedding. The explosions of her tires as she rolls her
car through an exit protected by spikes rips through the subwoofer and
cascades through the surround sound system, offering a rather jarring
assault on the senses after such a gentle start. Horns blare around her
as other drivers honk their displeasure.

Anna continues to have a bad day when her English teacher gives her
first a bad grade, then detention when Anna tries to argue her side.
Tess confronts a clingy patient who wants to have access to her as a
counselor even over her honeymoon. Later, the rock music drives the
volleyball game Anna competes in at school, rocking the house through
the surround sound system and promising all the fun that is coming as
the storylines converge. Stacy hammers Anna with the volleyball even
though they’re on the same team. When Anna takes her revenge on the
girl, she’s sent to detention again. Tess has a humorous encounter on
the phone in the supermarket while doing the shopping. Later, Anna gets
to meet Jake (Chad Michael Murray), her crush, and the thud of her book
bag hitting the floor slams through the subwoofer.

Chapter 2 opens with Anna’s confrontation with her little brother in
her room, then bumps right into the rock music practice session that
hammers the surround sound system. Tess’s arrival home gets crazy as
both her father (Harold Gould) and her fiancé (Mark Harmon) get there,
as well as her son’s friends. Anna’s guitar solo screams through the
system. Fireworks start as Tess finds out about the day Anna had a
school and Anna finds out there is an opportunity to play at a club.
However, the chance to play at the club comes on the same Friday as
Tess’s wedding rehearsal dinner. The situation goes ballistic as Tess
removes Anna’s bedroom door. The two women try to talk, but neither of
them truly understands the other. The screams of Anna and her little
brother shriek through the surround sound system, which will delight
younger viewers.In
Chapter 3, the family goes to a favorite Chinese restaurant. Tess and
Anna have another confrontation in the restaurant, drawing the
attention of the mother and daughter who own the restaurant, as well as
several other patrons. Violin music flows through the surround sound
system. The rattle of the beaded curtain as they walk through echoes
through the surround sound system. The earthquake that takes place as
the magic spell begins reverberates through the subwoofer and detonates
through the surround sound system. No one apart from Tess and Anna
notices the earthquake. The Chinese gong ringing hangs in the air and
promises dire events to follow. Later, while Tess and Anna are
sleeping, the spell’s magic flares to life with strange music.

Waking up in each other’s bodies the next morning in Chapter 4, Tess
and Anna freak out. Tess, in Anna’s body, howls in terror. Then little
brother Harry comes in and tells her that their mother is dead, which
is really only Anna sleeping in her mom’s body. Tess still has to
resort to dire measures to wake Anna, replaying the opening scenes.
Their immediate efforts to switch bodies are hilarious, as well as
their attempts not to let Harry know what is going on. The blackmail
begins as they realize they have to act as each other at least for the
day, each of them threatening to dress in an unacceptable manner for
the other.

In Chapter 5, the deception continues. Poor Harry is freaked out
totally as Mom acts like his sister and his sister acts like his Mom.
Tess and Anna each get a dose of each other’s lives. Anna switches on
rock music in the car so that it thunders through the surround sound
system. The music underscores Tess’s scenes with Jake and Stacy as well
as her daughter’s band buddies. Anna has to block her mom’s fiancé
before he kisses her. Rock music crashes through the surround sound
system as Anna puts her mom’s credit cards to use revamping her mom’s
wardrobe and style. One of the best bits is when Anna declines the root
canal her mom has scheduled.

Chapter 6 brings about some revelations to Tess. In addition to
discovering that Stacy really is out to get her, she also realizes that
Mr. Bates the English teacher really is out to get Anna. She later
dresses Mr. Bates down in a manner that will set parents and kids to
cheering. Anna arrives at school in the Volvo, tires shrieking through
the surround sound system, setting off car alarms and honking as rock
music thunders through the surround sound system. The scene about the
food differences and what mother and daughter can each eat is terrific.
They go to the Chinese restaurant and find out about the magic spell so
that daughters and mothers can understand each other. Anna sums it up
best when she says they’re stuck in this “suckfest.” The chapter offers
a wonderful situation when Anna has to attend the parent-teacher
conference and gets a totally different view of her little brother.
Harry is having trouble with bullies, and he also idolizes Anna.

A surprise television interview in Chapter 7 turns out to be awesome.
Tess gets an education on how treacherous Stacy can be as she is set up
and dismissed from the honors test. Anna struggles through the
interview about the book her mother wrote while Jake proves what a
resourceful and great guy he is by helping Tess take the test. Anna
ends up getting to crowd-surf the television audience as rock music
hammers the surround sound system. Things get even more complicated as
Anna shows up in her mom’s body and Jake falls for her, the older woman.

The DVD’s bonus materials are a little lean, but nevertheless touching.
The best piece by far is Lindsay Lohan’s “Backstage Pass.” The material
includes three alternate endings that show the degree of selection a
director has to take into consideration, and it also pushes the final
music piece of the film. The deleted scene shows Tess’s
less-than-professional reaction to Stacy, which was deemed by the
director as too harsh for the overall tone of the movie.

“Freaky Friday” is a crowd pleaser. The disc is a good prospect to add
to the family DVDs as a film that will be seen again and again. Viewers
who only want an evening’s fare for the family, something that will
engage a younger audience with quick humor and music, as well as teen
angst and something that will entertain an adult audience, will find
that “Freaky Friday” fits the bill. Curtis and Lohan really stand out
in their respective dual roles, able to slip back and forth between
adult and teen almost effortlessly.